'In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful'

Tafsir of Surah Al-Inshiqaq

It is a Makki surah without disagreement among the interpreters.

His saying, exalted and majestic is He:

﴿When the heaven is split open﴾ ﴿and it listens to its Lord and it is rightfully commanded﴾ ﴿and when the earth is stretched out﴾ ﴿and it casts out what is in it and becomes empty﴾ ﴿and it listens to its Lord and it is rightfully commanded﴾ ﴿O mankind, indeed you are laboring toward your Lord with [great] exertion and will meet Him﴾ ﴿So as for he who is given his record in his right hand﴾ ﴿he will be judged with an easy account﴾ ﴿and will return to his people in happiness﴾ ﴿And as for he who is given his record behind his back﴾ ﴿he will cry out for destruction﴾ ﴿and will enter to burn in a Blaze﴾ ﴿Indeed, he was among his people in happiness﴾ ﴿Indeed, he thought he would never return [to Allah]﴾ ﴿But yes, indeed his Lord was, of him, Seeing﴾

These are descriptions of the Day of Resurrection. The

Qatadah said: Whoever is able to have his toil in obedience to Allah, let him do so. And His saying, the Most High: "Then he will meet Him" means: he will meet His punishment or His bliss.

The grammarians differed regarding the agent in "if". Some grammarians said: the agent is "split apart", and many of their scholars rejected this, because "if" is added to "split apart", and whoever allows that, the addition becomes weak and the meaning of the recompense becomes strong.

Others among them said: the agent is "then he will meet Him". And some of their clever ones said: the agent is an implied action. Likewise, they disagreed regarding the response to "if". Many grammarians said: it is omitted due to the listener's knowledge of it. Abu al-Abbas al-Mubarrad and al-Akhfash said: it is in His saying, the Most High: "O mankind, indeed you are toiling toward your Lord with toil, then you will meet Him", meaning: if the sky splits apart, then you will meet Allah, the Most High. It was said: the estimation is: O mankind, and the response to "if" is in the implied "then". Al-Farra said about some grammarians: it is "it has permitted" with the addition of the implied "and". As for the pronoun "then he will meet Him", the majority of the interpreters said: it refers back to the Lord, the Most High, so the "then" - on this - is a conjunction, "meeting" is on "toiling", and some people said: it refers back to the toil, so the "then" - on this - is a conjunction of a sentence to that which preceded it, and the estimation is: then you will meet Him, and the meaning is: meeting His recompense, whether good or evil.

Then the Most High divided the people into believers and disbelievers. The believers will be given their books in their right hands, and whoever is subjected to the warning from among the sinners will be given his book when he exits from the Fire. Some people allowed that he may be given it first before entering the Fire, and this verse refutes this statement. And "the easy reckoning" is the presentation, and as for whoever is questioned about the reckoning, he will perish and be punished. The Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, said to Aisha, may Allah be pleased with her, that the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, said: "Whoever is reckoned with is punished." Aisha, may Allah be pleased with her, said: Did not Allah, the Most High, say: "Then he will be reckoned with an easy reckoning"? He, peace and blessings be upon him, said: "That is merely the presentation, and as for whoever is questioned about the reckoning, he will perish." And in the hadith from the narration of Ibn Umar, may Allah be pleased with him, the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, said: "Allah, the Most High, will bring the servant close until He places His protection over him, and He will say: Did I not do this and that for you? - He will enumerate His blessings upon him - then He will say to him: Why did you do this and that for your sins? - The servant will stand silent - then Allah, the Most High, will say: I covered it for you in the world, and I will forgive it for you today." Aisha, may Allah be pleased with her, said: I heard the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, say: "O Allah, reckon me with an easy reckoning." I said: O Messenger of Allah, what is it? He said: "That He overlooks the misdeeds." Ibn Umar narrated that the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, said: "Whoever reckons with himself in the world, Allah, the Most High, will make his reckoning easy on the Day of Resurrection." And His saying, the Most High: "to his family" means those whom Allah, the Most High, has prepared for him in Paradise, whether from the women of this world or from the houris or from all of them.

(p-571) And the disbeliever will be given his book from behind him because his hands are shackled. It has been narrated that his hand will be inserted from his chest until it comes out from behind his back, and he will take his book with it.

It is said that these two verses were revealed about Abu Salamah ibn Abd al-Asad and his brother al-Aswad. Abu Salamah was among the best of the Muslims, while his brother was among the most tyrannical of the disbelievers. And 'he calls for destruction' means: he cries out in lamentation: 'Oh destruction! Oh my sorrow!' and similar to this is what it means: 'This is your time, and your moment,' meaning: 'Come to me.' Destruction is a general name for calamities, like woe.

Ibn Kathir, Nafi', Ibn Amir, al-Kisai, Umar ibn Abd al-Aziz, al-Jahdari, Abu al-Sha'tha, and al-A'raj read: 'And he will be punished' with a strong lam and a dammed ya for emphasis. Nafi' also read, and Asim - in the narration of Aban - with a dammed ya and a softened lam, which is the reading of Abu al-Ashhab, and Isa, and Harun from Abu Amr. Asim, Abu Amr, Hamzah, Abu Ja'far, Qatadah, Isa, Talhah, and al-Amash read with a opened ya based on the active form. In the Mushaf of Ibn Mas'ud, it says: 'And he will be punished.' And His saying, glorified and exalted is He: 'In his family' means in this world, meaning his ownership of that does not know except the joy with his family without the knowledge of Allah, glorified and exalted is He. And if the believer is pleased with his family, there is no harm upon him.

And His saying, glorified and exalted is He: 'Indeed, he thought that he would not return' means: he will not return to Allah, glorified and exalted is He, resurrected and gathered. Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, said: 'I did not know what